| “ | She led me on. She said she wanted me. | „ |
| ~ Gardner on why he raped and murdered Jodi Simmons. |
Raphael Gardner is the main antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Paternity". He is a rapist and murderer who kills a woman he had been dating online after she rejects him upon meeting him in person.
He was portrayed by Steven Bauer, who also portrayed Manny Ribera in Scarface and Don Eladio in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Gardner is a middle-aged garage mechanic who starts dating online - using the screen name "Casanova" - to find the young, attractive woman of his dreams. He finds such a woman in Jodi Simmons, an attractive nanny in her 20s, but he fears she will "swipe left" if she knows how old he is, so he posts a picture of himself in his youth. She agrees to meet him, and they set up a date.
When he shows up at the house where Jodi works, she takes one look at him and laughs, shutting the door in his face. Enraged, Gardner breaks down the door, rapes Jodi, and strangles her to death. Afterward, he sees the boy that Jodi was watching, Tommy Keegan, staring at him in shock and horror, and runs away.
"Paternity"[]
The NYPD's Special Victims Unit investigates Jodi's murder and look into her dating history, reasoning that her murderer probably had an intimate relationship with her. They find her chat history with Gardner on the dating site faceunion.com, and Detective Fin Tutuola goes to the garage where Gardner works to question him. Gardner claims that he and Jodi had "a very fulfilling relationship", and he feigns surprise when Tutuola tells him that she is dead.
Gardner voluntarily goes to SVU's precinct house to answer questions, with Tutuola and Detective Olivia Benson interrogating him. He refuses to believe it when Tutuola says that she had been dating other men, claiming that he and Jodi were "very much in love". Benson then begins playing the "good cop" by telling him that Jodi was lucky to have him in her life and was simply too young and immature to appreciate his love. Gardner breaks down crying and says that he had "lost control" when Jodi laughed at him, and laments that he "could have made her so happy". Benson and Tutuola then formally arrest Gardner for raping and murdering Jodi, a crime for which he is presumably sentenced to life in prison.
External links[]
- Raphael Gardner on the Law & Order Wiki
